THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2 страницаA key area where American English has grown (on both sides of the Atlantic), is in the world of Business and Commerce, where use of the rhetorical euphemism is common. One example would be the phrase "are you comfortable with that". This phrase will typically be used by a business manager introducing a change which may, or may not, be welcome. A negative answer is neither expected nor, indeed invited. However, the question is, at least on the face of it, conciliatory. American English has further changed due to the influx of non-English speakers whose words sometimes enter American vernacular. Many words have entered American English from Spanish, Native American languages, and so on. Examples of common American English loanwords, not common in British English (many, however, would be recognised due to Hollywood movies): From African languages
From Yiddish
RELIGIONS US religious traditions are predominantly Judeo-Christian and most Americans identify themselves as Protestants (of various denominations), Roman Catholics, or Jews. Over 141 million Americans reported affiliation with a religious group. The single largest Christian denomination is the Roman Catholic Church, with membership in 2004 estimated at 66.4 million. Immigration from Ireland, Italy, Eastern Europe, French Canada, and the Caribbean accounts for the predominance of Roman Catholicism in the Northeast, Northwest, and some parts of the Great Lakes region, while Hispanic traditions and more recent immigration from Mexico and other Latin American countries account for the historical importance of Roman Catholicism in California and throughout most of the sunbelt. More than any other US religious body, the Roman Catholic Church maintains an extensive network of parochial schools. Jewish immigrants settled first in the Northeast, where the largest Jewish population remains; at last estimates, about 6.1 million Jews lived in the United States. Over 94 million persons in the United States report affiliation with a Protestant denomination. Baptists predominate below the Mason-Dixon Line and west to Texas. By far the nation’s largest Protestant group is the Southern Baptist Convention, which has about 16.2 million members; the American Baptist Churches in the USA claim some 1.4 million members. A number of Orthodox Christian denominations are represented in the United States, established by immigrants hoping to maintain their language and culture in a new world. The largest group of Orthodox belongs to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, which has about 1.5 million members. A number of religious groups, which now have a worldwide presence, originated in the United States. One such group, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), was organized in New York in 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr., who claimed to receive a revelation concerning an ancient American prophet named Mormon. The group migrated westward, in part to escape persecution, and has played a leading role in the political, economic, and religious life of Utah; Salt Lake City is the headquarters for the church. As of 2004, there are about 5.4 million members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. GOVERNMENT The Constitution of the United States, signed in 1787, is the nation’s governing document. In the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, ratified in 1791 and known as the Bill of Rights, the federal government is denied the power to infringe on rights generally regarded as fundamental to the civil liberties of the people. These amendments prohibit the establishment of a state religion and the abridgment of freedom of speech, press, and the right to assemble. They protect all persons against unreasonable searches and seizures, guarantee trial by jury, and prohibit excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishments. No person may be required to testify against himself, nor may he be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The 13th Amendment (1865) banned slavery; the 15th (1870) protected the freed slaves’ right to vote; and the 19th (1920) guaranteed the franchise to women. In all, there have been 27 amendments, the last of which, proposed in 1789 but ratified in 1992, denied the variation of the compensation of Senators and Representatives until an election intervened. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), approved by Congress in 1972, would have mandated equality between the sexes; only 35 of the required 38 states had ratified the ERA by the time the ratification deadline expired on 30 June 1982. The United States has a federal form of government, with the distribution of powers between the federal government and the states constitutionally defined. The legislative powers of the federal government are vested in Congress, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. There are 435 members of the House of Representatives. Each state is allotted a number of representatives in proportion to its population as determined by the decennial census. Representatives are elected for two-year terms in every even-numbered year. A representative must be at least 25 years old, must be a resident of the state represented, and must have been a citizen of the United States for at least seven years. The Senate consists of two senators from each state, elected for six-year terms. Senators must be at least 30 years old, must be residents of the states from which they are elected, and must have been citizens of the United States for at least nine years. One-third of the Senate is elected in every even- numbered year. Congress legislates on matters of taxation, borrowing, regulation of international and interstate commerce, formulation of rules of naturalization, bankruptcy, coinage, weights and measures, post offices and post roads, courts inferior to the Supreme Court, provision for the armed forces, among many other matters. The president must be “a natural bom citizen” at least 35 years old, and must have been a resident of the United States for 14 years. Under the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1951, a president may not be elected more than twice. Each state is allotted a number of electors based on its combined total of US senators and representatives, and, technically, it is these electors who, constituted as the electoral college, cast their vote for president, with all of the state’s electoral votes customarily going to the candidate who won the largest share of the popular vote of the state (the District of Columbia also has three electors, making a total of 538 votes). Thus, the candidate who wins the greatest share of the popular vote throughout the United States may, in rare cases, fail to win a majority of the electoral vote. If no candidate gains a majority in the Electoral College, the choice passes to the House of Representatives. The vice president, elected at the same time and on the same ballot as the president, serves as ex-officio president of the Senate. The vice president assumes the power and duties of the presidency on the president’s removal from office or as a result of the president’s death, resignation, or inability to perform his duties. In the case of a vacancy in the vice presidency, the president nominates a successor, who must be approved by a majority in both houses of Congress. The Congress has the power to determine the line of presidential succession in case of the death or disability of both the president and vice president. Under the Constitution, the president is enjoined to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” ECONOMY The US economy is the world’s largest. The United States is among the world’s leading exporters of coal, wheat, com, and soybeans. However, because of its vast economic growth, the United States depends increasingly on foreign sources for a long list of raw materials, including oil. By the middle of the 20th century, the United States was a leading consumer of nearly every important industrial raw material. The industry of the United States produced about 40% of the world’s total output of goods, despite the fact that the country’s population comprised about 6% of the world total and its land area about 7% of the earth’s surface. In absolute terms the United States far exceeds every other nation in the size of its gross domestic product (GDP). The United States has a capitalist mixed economy, which is fueled by abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity. According to the International Monetary Fund, the U.S. GDP of $14.4 trillion constitutes 24% of the gross world product at market exchange rates and almost 21% of the gross world product at purchasing power parity (PPP). It has the largest national GDP in the world, though it is about 5% less than the GDP of the European Union at PPP in 2008. The country ranks seventeenth in the world in nominal GDP per capita and sixth in GDP per capita at PPP. In 2009, the private sector is estimated to constitute 55.3% of the economy, with federal government activity accounting for 24.1% and state and local government activity (including federal transfers) the remaining 20.6%. The economy is postindustrial, with the service sector contributing 67.8% of GDP, though the United States remains an industrial power. The leading business field by gross business receipts is wholesale and retail trade; by net income it is manufacturing. Chemical products are the leading manufacturing field. The United States is the third largest producer of oil in the world, as well as its largest importer. It is the world's number one producer of electrical and nuclear energy, as well as liquid natural gas, sulfur, phosphates, and salt. While agriculture accounts for just less than 1% of GDP, the United States is the world's top producer of com and soybeans. The New York Stock Exchange is the world's largest by dollar volume. Coca-Cola and McDonald's are the two most recognized brands in the world. HOUSING The housing resources of the United States far exceed those of any other country, with 122,671,734 housing units serving about 109,902,090 households, according to 2004 American Community Survey estimates. About 67% of all occupied units were owner-occupied, with about 10% of the total housing stock standing vacant. The average household had 2.6 people. The median home value was estimated at $151,366. The median payment for rent and utilities of rental properties was $694 per month. The average area of single-family housing is about 180 sq m. The median number of rooms per dwelling was estimated at 5.4 in 2004. HEALTH The US health care system is among the most advanced in the world. Escalating health care costs resulted in several proposals for a national health care program in the 1970s, early 1980s, and early 1990s. Most reform measures relied either on market-oriented approaches designed to widen insurance coverage through tax subsidies on a federally controlled single-payer plan, or on mandatory employer payments for insurance coverage. The health care industry continues to struggle with continued rising costs, as well as the financial burden of providing care to over 40 million people who were uninsured. The percentage among the nation’s poor was much higher. EDUCATION Education is the responsibility of state and the local governments. However, federal funds are available to meet special needs at primary, secondary, or higher levels. Each state specifies the age and circumstances for compulsory attendance. The most common program of compulsory education requires attendance for ages 6 to 16; however, most school programs continue through twelve years of study, with students graduating at age 17 or 18. The high school diploma is only granted to students who complete this course of study, no certificates of completion are granted at previous intervals. Those who leave school before completion of grade 12 may choose to take a General Educational Development Test (GED) that is generally considered to be the equivalent to a state approved diploma. Regular schools, which educate a person toward a diploma or degree, include both public and private schools. Public schools are controlled and supported by the local authorities, as well as state or federal governmental agencies. Private schools are controlled and supported by religious or private organizations. Elementary schooling generally extends from grade one through grade five or six. Junior high or middle school programs may cover grades six through eight, depending on the structure of the particular school district. High schools generally cover grades 9 through 12. At the secondary level, many schools offer choices of general studies or college preparatory studies. Vocational and technical programs are also available. Some schools offer advanced placement programs through which students (after appropriate exams) may earn college credits while still in high school. The school year begins in September and ends in June. Colleges include junior or community colleges, offering two year associate degrees; regular four-year colleges and universities; and graduate or professional schools. Both public and private institutions are plentiful. Eight of the most prestigious institutions in the country are collective known as the Ivy League. These schools are some of the oldest in the country and are known for high academic standards and an extremely selective admissions process. Though they are all now independent, nonsectarian organizations, most of them were founded or influenced by religious groups. They include: Yale University (1701, Puritans), University of Pennsylvania (1740, Quaker influence), Princeton University (1746, Presbyterian), Harvard University (1638, Puritan), Dartmouth College (1769, Puritan), Cornell University (1865), Columbia University (1754, Anglican), and Brown University (1764, Baptist). The cost of college education varies considerably depending on the institution. There are county and state universities that receive government funding and offer reduced tuition for residents of the region. Students attending both public and private institutions may be eligible for federal aid in the form of grants or loans. Institutions generally offer their own scholarship and grant programs as well. LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS The American Library Association has reported that, as of 2004, there were an estimated 117,664 libraries in the country, including 9,211 public libraries (with over 16,500 buildings), 3,527 academic libraries, 93,861 school libraries, 9,526 special libraries, 314 armed forces libraries, and 1,225 government libraries. The largest library in the country and the world is the Library of Congress, with holdings of over 130 million items, including 29 million books and other printed materials, 2.7 million recordings, 12 million photographs, 4.8 million maps, and 58 million manuscripts. The Library of Congress serves as the national library and the site of the US Copyright Office. The government maintains a system of presidential libraries and museums, which serve as archive and research centers that preserve documents and other materials of historical value related to the presidency. The country’s vast public library system is administered primarily by municipalities. The largest of these is the New York Public Library system with 89 branch locations and over 42.7 million items, including 14.9 million bound volumes. Other major public library systems include the Cleveland Public Library (over 9.7 million items), Los Angeles County Public Library (over 9.6 million items, 8.7 million books), the Chicago Public Library (6.5 million), the Boston Public Library system (6.1 million books, including 1.2 million rare books and manuscripts), and the Free Library of Philadelphia (6 million items). Among the leading university libraries are those of Harvard (with about 15 million volumes in 90 libraries), Yale, Illinois (Urbana- Champaign), Michigan (Ann Arbor), California (Berkeley), Columbia, Stanford, Cornell, California (Los Angeles), Chicago, Wisconsin (Madison), and Washington (Seattle). There are over 5,000 nonprofit museums in the United States. The most numerous type is the historic building, followed in descending order by college and university museums, museums of science, public museums of history, and public museums of art. The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, sponsors 18 national museums and the National Zoo. Sixteen of the Smithsonian national museums are located in the Smithsonian complex of Washington, DC; these include the Natural History Museum, the American History Museum, the Air and Space Museum, American Art Museum, and the American Indian Museum. The American Indian Museum, Heye Center, and the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum are Smithsonian-sponsored museums located in New York. Other eminent US museums include the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modem Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Collection of American Art, the Frick Collection, and the Brooklyn Museum, all in New York City; the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; the Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Museum of Natural History; the Franklin Institute and Philadelphia Museum of Art, both in Philadelphia; and the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco. Also of prominence are the Cleveland Museum of Art, the St. Louis Museum of Art, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. CULTURE The development of the Culture of the United States of America has been marked by a tension between two strong sources of inspiration: European ideals, especially British; and domestic originality. American culture encompasses traditions, ideals, customs, beliefs, values, arts, folklore and innovations developed both domestically and imported via colonization and immigration from the British Isles. Prevalent ideas and ideals which evolved domestically such as important national holidays, uniquely American sports, proud military tradition, and innovations in the arts and entertainment give a strong sense of national pride among the population as a whole. It includes both conservative and liberal elements, military and scientific competitiveness, political structures, risk taking and free expression, materialist and moral elements. It also includes elements which evolved from Native Americans, and other ethnic subcultures; most prominently the culture of African American slave descendants and different cultures from Latin America. Many cultural elements, especially popular culture have been exported across the globe through modem mass media where American culture is sometimes resented. A few of the cultural elements have remained rather exclusive to North America. Music Music intertwines with aspects of American social and cultural identity, including through social class, race and ethnicity, geography, religion, language, gender and sexuality. The relationship between music and race is perhaps the most potent determiner of musical meaning in the United States. The development of an African American musical identity, out of disparate sources from Africa and Europe, has been a constant theme in the music histoiy of the United States. Little documentation exists of colonial-era African American music, when styles, songs and instruments from across West Africa commingled in the melting pot of slavery. By the mid-19th century, a distinctly African American folk tradition was well-known and widespread, and African American musical techniques, instruments and images became a part of mainstream American music through spirituals, minstrel shows and slave songs. African American musical styles became an integral part of American popular music through blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and then rock and roll, soul and hip hop; all of these styles were consumed by Americans of all races, but were created in African American styles and idioms before eventually becoming common in performance and consumption across racial lines. In contrast, country music derives from both African and European, as well as Native American and Hawaiian, traditions and yet has long been perceived as a form of white music. Economic and social class separates American music through the creation and consumption of music, such as the upper-class patronage of symphony-goers, and the generally poor performers of rural and ethnic folk music. Musical divisions based on class are not absolute, however, and are sometimes as much perceived as actual; popular American country music, for example, is a commercial genre designed to "appeal to a working-class identity, whether or not its listeners are actually working class". Country music is also intertwined with geographic identity, and is specifically rural in origin and function; other genres, like R&B and hip hop, are perceived as inherently urban. For much of American history, music-making has been a "feminized activity". In the 19th century, amateur piano and singing were considered proper for middle- and upper-class women. Women were also a major part of early popular music performance, though recorded traditions quickly become more dominated by men. Most male-dominated genres of popular music include female performers as well, often in a niche appealing primarily to women; these include gangsta rap and heavy metal. The United States is often said to be a cultural melting pot, taking in influences from across the world and creating distinctively new methods of cultural expression. Though aspects of American music can be traced back to specific origins, claiming any particular original culture for a musical element is inherently problematic, due to the constant evolution of American music through transplanting and hybridizing techniques, instruments and genres. Elements of foreign music arrived in the United States both through the formal sponsorship of educational and outreach events by individuals and groups, and through informal processes, as in the incidental transplantation of West African music through slavery, and Irish music through immigration. The most distinctly American music is a result of cross-cultural hybridization through close contact. Cinema The cinema of the United States has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period (after 1980). Since the 1920s, the American film industry has grossed more money every year than that of any other country. In 1878, Eadweard Muybridge demonstrated the power of photography to capture motion. In 1894, the world's first commercial motion picture exhibition was given in New York City, using Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope. The United States was in the forefront of sound film's development in the following decades. Since the early twentieth century, the U.S. film industry has largely been based in and around Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Picture City, FL was also a planned site for a movie picture production center in the 1920s, but due to the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane, the idea collapsed and Picture City was returned back to the original name of Hobe Sound. Director D. W. Griffith was central to the development of film grammar and Orson Welles's Citizen Kane (1941) is frequently cited in critics' polls as the greatest film of all time. American screen actors like John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe have become iconic figures, while producer/entrepreneur Walt Disney was a leader in both animated film and movie merchandising. The major film studios of Hollywood are the primary source of the most commercially successful movies in the world, such as Star Wars (1977), Titanic (1997), and Avatar (2009), and the products of Hollywood today dominate the global film industry. Fashion Apart from professional business attire, fashion in the United States is eclectic and predominantly informal. While Americans' diverse cultural roots are reflected in their clothing, particularly those of recent immigrants, cowboy hats and boots and leather motorcycle jackets are emblematic of specifically American styles. Blue jeans were popularized as work clothes in the 1850s by merchant Levi Strauss, a German immigrant in San Francisco, and adopted by many American teenagers a century later. They are now widely worn on eveiy continent by people of all ages and social classes. Along with mass-marketed informal wear in general, blue jeans are arguably U.S. culture's primary contribution to global fashion. The country is also home to the headquarters of many leading designer labels such as Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. Labels such as Abercrombie & Fitch and Ecko cater to various niche markets. Another type of clothing worn throughout the United States by many types of people is the T-shirt. It can be plain and white, or colored with company logos or funny messages. T-shirts are arguably the most worn type of shirt in the United States. Dress norms in the United States are generally consistent with those of other post-industrial western nations and has become largely informal since the mid 20th century. Clothing in the United States also depends on a variety of factors including location, venue, and demographic factors such as ethnicity. Blue jeans are a consistent fashion trend among all classes. The western states are commonly noted for being more informal in their manner of dress than those closer to the eastern seaboard. Furthermore, individuals belonging to certain ethnic groups such as some Native American tribal members and individuals of Scottish descent may wear clothing to represent their ethnic identity at certain events. Conspicuous consumption and a desire for quality have also lead to a strong preference for designer label clothing among many in the middle and upper classes. Fashion norms have changed greatly from decade to decade. The United States has generally followed and in some cases led trends in the history of Western fashion. It has some unique regional clothing styles, such as western wear. The toleration for body expression that deviates from the mainstream such as complete body tattoos or nudism is strongly linked to the sub-culture and location in which an individual may find him- or herself. Generally speaking the United States tends to be less tolerant towards nudity than Western Europe, even in more tolerant areas such as California. As stated above the tolerance shown for personal expression such as cross-dressing, piercing, etc... varies greatly with location and subculture and may be completely appropriate in one venue while being taboo in another. CUISINE The United States of America is often called "the melting pot of the world". The US cooking is as diverse as population. The USA cooking pot contains a blend of cuisines from many countries. We sometimes use the term "American cooking" to loosely define a collection of traditional dishes that have gained popularity across the USA. Mainstream American culinary arts are similar to those in other Western countries. Wheat is the primary cereal grain. Traditional American cuisine uses ingredients such as turkey, white-tailed deer venison, potatoes, sweet potatoes, com, squash, and maple syrup, indigenous foods employed by Native Americans and early European settlers. Slow-cooked pork and beef barbecue, crab cakes, potato chips, and chocolate chip cookies are distinctively American styles. Soul food, developed by African slaves, is popular around the South and among many African Americans elsewhere. Syncretic cuisines such as Louisiana creole, Cajun, and Tex-Mex are regionally important.
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